Getting Ourselves In Order

Some things work very, very well in Spain. One of those things is the health system. We looked around and tried to figure out how much it was going to cost to get ourselves immunized. Since we were already planning a trip to the United States, we looked at getting it done there. I contacted several of the centers which were listed as offering travel immunizations. The best option, taking into account where we were going and how much they were charging, was in Washington DC. They were going to charge $50 for the office visit, $289 for each of the three rabies shots, and between $50 and $150 for each of the other shots we seemed to need. For the three of us, it was looking to be a punitively expensive undertaking, costing well over $1,000 for each of us. We looked around in Madrid, and found that there is an international vaccination center. We were able to set up an appointment online for the next day. We went in and were seen by a doctor, with whom we discussed the countries we were considering, and she came up with a menu of shots for us. She said we should all get rabies, tyfus, and meningitis shots. I needed a diptheria-tetanus shot. My wife, Ana, and I were also getting polio booster shots, and two hepatitis shots. The total cost was 34 euros each.

Bryan